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Individual differences in sociability and their consequences for foraging behaviour in sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

A.M. Sibbald ,
D.J.F. Smith  and
R.J. Hooper
A.M. Sibbald
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, United Kingdom
D.J.F. Smith
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh
R.J. Hooper
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, United Kingdom
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Extract

The spatial distribution of grazing sheep is influenced by the distribution of vegetation and by social behaviour. Where there are conflicts between grazing preferred vegetation and maintaining normal inter-individual distances, animals may have to make trade-offs based on the relative strengths of their motivation to feed or to be social. Social motivation, or sociability, has been assessed in chickens by measuring the rate at which isolated individuals move towards their companions (Suarez and Gallup, 1983) and in sheep by studying nearest neighbours (Sibbald et al, 1998). The aim of this experiment was to test whether individual differences in sociability affect the foraging behaviour of sheep, when animals have to choose between grazing or remaining close to their companions.

Type
Poster Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2000 , 2000 , pp. 129
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2000

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References

Martin, P. and Bateson, P. 1986. Measuring Behaviour. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Suarez, S.D. and Gallup, G.G. 1983. Social re-instatement and open-field testing in chickens. Animal Learning and Behavior, 11: 119–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibbald, A.M., Smart, T.S. and Shellard, L.J.F. 1998. A method for measuring the social behaviour of individuals in a group: an example with sheep. Measuring Behavior '98. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research (ed. Noldus, L.P.J.J.), pp 260–261, Groningen, The Netherlands. (http://www.noldus.com/events/index.html)Google Scholar